Media Portrayal Of Women

The media has come under many criticism when it comes to the issue of the portrayal of women. Carilli & Campbell (2012) observed that because of the critical role the media plays in shaping people ideas and perception, it is very perturbing that they are dominated by stereotyped portrayal of gender relations and negative images of women. Parvez &Roshan (2010) supported the argument by asserting that a devalued, economically and emotionally dependent women is seen on the Media. Instead of being the central character, they are treated as inferior and taken as to be always submissive or passive. However, media is giving coverage to some issues but most of the time portrays the negative image regarding women (Undurti et al., 2011). Film being …show more content…
The framing theory perspective helps us in understanding how these roles are created (Reese, Jr, & Grant, 2001). Baran and Davis (2012), defined framing theory as the central idea that people use sets of expectations to make sense of their social world and media contribute to the framing of those expectations. These expectations can also be referred to as stereotypes, racial, ethnic (or gender) bias. In addition, media framing involves the selection of some important issues and then highlighting them while excluding others. Media decides on what aspects of a female character to emphasize or exclude, and the manner in which these subjects are featured influence the messages being portrayed. Severin & Tankard (2000) claimed that frames are certain packages that the media uses in order to portray issues. These frames display certain images, information, representations that influence people’s perceptions and attitudes toward issues. Goffman (1974) further added that frames are organizing principles that convey and construct meaning. In regard to films, the concept of media framing exhibits the choice as to what aspects of the female characters are emphasized and highlighted the most It means how a character or an issue is designed into a certain presentation (Taylor & Hardman, 2004).In examining how movies disseminate patriarchal ideology, Scheufele (2004) stressed the importance of looking at how women’s representations in films are fixed and mediated, making them unable to reflect the real social world. So, this theory lays a groundwork for understanding construction for women representation through empowerment and/or subjugation frames. Furthermore, this theory connects with the characters’ attributes that were examined through the